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Adam Woodyatt has made a shock return as Ian Beale on EastEnders.

The show legend, 54, agreed to reprise his role to be part of the funeral of Dot Branning, who was played by the late June Brown.

His comeback was filmed in secret to give viewers a big surprise.

READ MORE: EastEnders' Adam Woodyatt unrecognisable after drag transformation for ITV show

It saw Ian watch the funeral from afar.

Adam was close pals with June during their time working together on the BBC soap.

Show boss Chris Clenshaw said: “I called Adam and told him our plans and said, ‘Ian has to be there’. And he agreed. He wanted to be there for June.

Ian was seen speaking on the phone to an unnamed person.

The mystery is a major hint Ian will make a full-time return to Albert Square.

Chris added: "Ian was on the phone to someone… we know who that is…"

Adam is the soap's longest-serving actor and Ian is only remaining original character to have appeared continuously since the first episode on 19 February 1985.

Speaking about potential returning to the show earlier this year, Adam said: "" think as long as I live, I'm still going to be seen as Ian Beale. It doesn't matter what I do, what else I do, where I go, Ian Beale is always going to be a part of my life."

"I don't know. It's not just my decision to make, it's also EastEnders. I left because of the way the storyline was going, because Ian needed to go.

"Not me going, 'I wanna leave', or them saying, 'You're going!' that was the storyline."

Adan has even broken EastEnders records whilst appearing in the show – he's one of the programme's very few to have appeared in more than 2,000 EastEnders episodes.

He appeared in his 2,000th on March 26 2007 and his 3,000th on May 27 2016.

After 36 years on the show, he departed EastEnders on 22 January 2021.

During his stint on I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2020, Adam opened up about his exit from EastEnders.

He said in a chat with his campmates: "I just had another opportunity.

"This play came up. I just fancied doing something different. The way the storyline was, they needed me to take a break. Yeah, the break's just got longer."

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One at 7.30pm

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